CHIAPAS: Land of Rebels

CHIAPAS: Land of Rebels

Last March, Rafa Ortiz led an international team deep into the rainforests of his native Mexico to crack the Five Falls of the Rio Tulijá, one of the most complex waterfall combinations on earth. Though the popular tourist site known as Agua Azul in Chiapas lies nearby, these five falls are hidden deep within the Lacandon Jungle, on a half-mile stretch of river that drops a dizzying 1,000 feet. "There's only two ways to get there, paddling through all these turquoise blue channels or hiking through Zapatista rebel land," explains Ortiz. "It was really cool to see the faces of the Zapatistas because they don't often see guys coming there with kayaks and running the waterfalls in their backyard." Or gals: here Martina Wegman makes a sky-blue stout go down easy. -- Mark Anders